The decline and fall of “American Idol” has been charted for years. Some observers wonder whether steps taken by Fox this season to shore up the aging singing show can forestall the end — or will “Idol” take the network down with it?
Not so fast. “Idol” is down, but not out. This month the season opener drew 11 million viewers to beat the broadcast competition; Fox has now won its opening two nights of “American Idol” every season since 2003 (season 2).
But it used to dominate the landscape by a much wider margin. The peak was the 2004-05 season when it drew 30.8 million viewers.
For at least a decade “Idol” was considered the “Death Star” in network television, the that emerged every January to obliterate everything in its path.
At the end of last season, the finale dropped a stunning 30 percent from the season prior in the crucial 18-49 demographic. This season, the 14th, “Idol” producers hope they’ve got a way to slow the decline.
They hope less is more: Fewer hours to fill will mean stronger episodes, less padding. Cutting the exposure to a single show a week, with lots of business packed into the single installment, would seem a wise move.
A decade ago, when “Idol” was unstoppable, the idea of inflated airings multiple nights a week, two hours twice a week, could barely satisfy fans’ hunger. Now, with other singing and performance shows vying for attention and the novelty gone, cutting the filler and rounding out the audition process is the plan.
The producers hope getting to know the contestants, via interviews with judges after the Hollywood round, will help viewers connect. (Do we really want to know more about the wanna-be singers — or hear them talking?) Later, elimination rounds will be spread throughout the show to sustain energy.
It remains to be seen whether superficial refreshing can stop the slide.
Music mogul Scott Borchetta (who discovered Taylor Swift) is on board as a mentor to work with the 24 finalists.
Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. are likable as judges, spending less time pumping their own egos and more time judging. The auditions continue, the Hollywood rounds are up next; late February may be the optimal time to start watching, when the musical mob is narrowed to finalists.
The next move is a play out of the old-school broadcasters’ book: There’s talk of a crossover between “American Idol” and “Empire,” the hot new Fox series about a hip-hop music mogul and his family. Perhaps some contestants on the reality series could be written in to the scripted musical drama ? The two Wednesday night shows would seem a natural cross-promotional opportunity for the network.
Will it feel contrived? Of course. But short-term stunting seems reasonable at this stage in “Idol’s” long history.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp
